


The Other Book

by Lightonhisfeet



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Backstory, Character Study, Ficlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 15:44:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19908175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightonhisfeet/pseuds/Lightonhisfeet
Summary: Caleb Widogast carries two journals with him. One is filled with arcane notes and spell incantations. It will become his life's work.The Other Book is something entirely different.





	The Other Book

The Other Book

Caleb Widogast, as that is what he was calling himself these days, always kept two journals with him. One was filled to the brim with diagrams, spell descriptions, quickly scribbled notes, multicolored stains from dozens of teas, small doodles from Jester which were mostly phallic in nature. This tome was standard stuff for a wizard On-The-Go.

The Other Book was a different story. In fact, it was many stories. Memories and anecdotes from Bren and Caleb’s life. From when Bren still walked among the living and more recent events still fresh in Caleb’s mind. Moments from Bren’s childhood and instances from Caleb’s time with the Nein and briefly before then. Bren thought of this when he was still under the tutelage of Trent Ikithon. Ikathon and other members of the Cerberus Assembly were known too use Modify Memory and other such spells too influence people. Make them forget important details or too remember things that never happened.

This practice kept Bren under Ikithon’s control far longer then he wished to be used. Ikithon scrambled his pupils’ brain multiple times and reformed it in a shape that pleased him. Gaining control over the star pupil. When Bren realized what was becoming of him, he began the journal. A book of secrets that only he could read and peruse.

In times of emotional or mental trauma, when the world seemed off kilter or if déjà vu happens far too often, Bren and Caleb would read this other book. A collection of moments that only the young wizard would know about or remember. Things both positive and negative he kept close too his heart, to remember if his world was real or if he was being influenced by his tormentor once again. When Bren was under Ikithons control, he wrote about the grassy field his mother maintained outside their home. The small black cat who would meow under his window at night until he let the mewling creature inside. Bren would remember the willow trees that whispered by the creak at night. He would remember how uncomfortable his pillow was as a child. The scratchiness of his clothes, the smell of his neighbor’s farmhouse, and the smell of his father’s oily Imperial Infantry armor. Snapshots of his childhood only he would know of. Even when Astrid and Eodwulf gave him up too Ikithon and all the secrets he shared with them in confidence, there were still things only he would know of. Small insignificant things that grounded him.

Now that Bren was gone, Caleb remembers these times. But now he knows other events as well. They involved his friends most of all. Seeing Nott’s large orange eyes in the dark of his prison cell for the first time. Fresh air hitting his face after months of confinement. The scream of a mother manticore seeing it’s child be stabbed too death. _The Magicians Judge_ against his cheeks. Mollymauk’s kiss on his forehead. Tiamat’s scrying bowl and the satisfying crack it made when Yasha broke it. The prickliness of Kiri’s feathers. Seeing the glint of sunlight on the vast ocean for the first time. Sea sickness and the constant tossing of _The Mistake_ under his feet. Fjords bleeding hand pressed against his own bleeding hand. The looming presence of a blue dragon. Beau’s hand on his shoulder. Beau’s attempt at a hug and his failure of a hug in return. Avantika’s nearly uncrackable code and it’s cypher. The earth trembling beneath his feet as war turtles lumbered by. The warmth of the Beacon in his hands.

 _That_ is what is in the Other Book. Moments or feelings from his life that no illusion magic could ever replicate. So trivial or specific, not even Ikithon could guess at the events.

In the past, Bren’s Other Book was filled with arcane notes and diagrams when the world was not _truly_ his own. When things seemed strange or like he was waking through water, the Other Book would set him at ease. Or confirm his suspicions.

Caleb hopes he never has too read the Other Book again. He wants to one day throw it away and have no need for it. He is not a hopeful man. But he hopes for this.

**Author's Note:**

> -Just a small character idea I had kicking around. Nothing too serious.


End file.
